Shea Butter
Saponification values, fatty acid makeup, and what this oil does in a bar of soap.
Use Shea Butter in a recipe → Added at 0%, you set the amount
Saponification values
Grams of lye needed to saponify one gram of shea butter. Multiply by your oil weight, then apply your superfat.
- NaOH (bar soap)
- 0.128
- KOH (liquid soap)
- 0.179
- Iodine
- 59
- INS
- 116
INCI: Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) ButterSaponified name (for labels): Sodium Shea Butterate
Where to buy shea butter on Amazon → Affiliate link. It costs you nothing extra and helps keep Lye.rs free.
Fatty acid profile
| Fatty acid | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Oleic | 48% |
| Stearic | 40% |
| Linoleic | 6% |
| Palmitic | 5% |
Soap qualities at 100%
What a bar made entirely of shea butter would score. Almost nobody soaps a single oil at 100% - this is here so you can see what the oil contributes to a blend. The shaded band is the range most makers aim for in a finished recipe.
Oils that behave similarly
Closest matches by fatty acid makeup - the usual starting point when you have run out of shea butter and need a substitute. Check the lye maths again after swapping: SAP values differ even between oils that behave alike.
- Mango Seed ButterSAP 0.136 NaOH
- Cupuacu ButterSAP 0.137 NaOH
- Kpangnan ButterSAP 0.136 NaOH
- Ucuuba ButterSAP 0.146 NaOH
- Sal ButterSAP 0.132 NaOH
Recipes using shea butter
- Milk & Meadow 26%A shea-rich bar for goat milk. Replace up to half the water with milk, frozen to slush, and add the lye slowly to keep it from scorching. Geranium and sweet orange suit it.
- Creamy Shea & Oat 25%Butter-heavy and low-cleansing, for a creamy, lotion-like bar.
- Shea & Cocoa Butter Bar 20%A richer everyday bar. The butters add hardness and a dense, creamy lather without much cleansing punch.
- Honey & Oatmeal 20%A soft, comforting bar. Honey boosts lather and adds sugars that feed bubbles.
- Charcoal & Tea Tree 20%A brisk, deep-cleansing bar. Activated charcoal takes it from grey to near black.
- Goat Milk & Honey 20%Creamy and mild, the classic milk soap without the temperature headaches.
Sorted by how much of each recipe is shea butter; 9 more recipes use it too. Open the calculator to load any of these from the recipe library.
Use Shea Butter in a recipe → Added at 0% - you set the amount